Neglumuur
by Masaki-Hanabusa
Summary: Sequal to Blood Gigas. Fran, Basch and Vaan hurry to make sure their companions are safe. They too fall victim to Ashe's derangement. M for violence and gore


A/N: Okay, this is the sequel to Blood Gigas. This story is for Arianissa, who said she wouldn't mind seeing the others killed off.

Sorta have mixed feelings on this one. Love some parts, hate others. Went to long on it I think, and took a damn long time on it too. I got stuck and couldn't think of a way to finish it. Like I said, I say this is both one of my more favorite works and my most loathed as well.

Reviews are highly appreciated, especially for this story.

Well, I hope you all like it, enjoy!

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"They have been gone a rather long time, haven't they," Basch noted, hoping to see his comrades come back up the hallway. Balthier, Penelo, and Ashe had gone to clear out the fiends that stood guard in the hall. Fran had insisted on going instead of Penelo, but being injured, Balthier had insisted she stay and rest. But it had been already half an hour and the trio should have been back by now.

"Perhaps we should make sure they do not need us?" Fran suggested, hand reaching for her bow. Her right arm had recovered enough from the crystal's power that she was ready to go back to battle. Vaan, not one to sit still, nodded in agreement. The three of them stood, grabbing their weapons, and headed down the hall.

It had only been a few minutes since the three had started walking through the long hall when Vaan started to feel sick at the strong, rancid odor that floated through the air. Turning to Fran, he could tell from the expression on her face that it was not just his imagination. He was glad he did not have a powerful Viera's nose.

"The undead, they are near," Fran informed, ears twitching at a not too far off sound.

"Then let us make haste," Basch said, breaking out into a run toward the stench. The two other's followed until the small group the end of the hall and broke into a nervous sweat as they realized it wasn't just a few undead. The whole corridor was filled with dozens of ghasts, more crawling up from the tile floor thanks to the dark magic of the Neglamuur, floating ominously above its minions.

Vaan let out a scream as a decaying hand reached up from beneath and took hold of his ankle. He quickly bashed the rotten skull open with his hammer, the fiend disappearing into dust.

"Ashe!" Vaan and Fran both turned in Basch's direction, letting their eyes follow where his lead. A severed, decaying head flew past their heads as the princess Ashe ran her bloodied axe through its rotting and fragile neck. The rest of the body fell in a heap and evaporated into dust. Lifting the heavy blade from the tiles, she sliced upwards, tearing through flesh, causing eaten away intestines and foul smelling ooze to splatter onto the floor. Another blow came, smashing it's head to pieces.

"She needs help!" Vaan yelled, rushing forward as another ghast rose from the ground behind the young woman. Quickly, he smashed his hammer down, causing the skull to cave. Feeling Vaan's idea was the best course of action, Basch followed after, his greatsword cutting the undead in half, snapped in half through the spine.

Fran drew back the string of her bow, taking aim at her target, and let the arrow fly from her fingers, shooting straight between the zombies empty eye sockets. She was about to ready another when something very obvious hit her. Crimson eyes swiftly darted back and forth across the grey, ancient corridor. Her highness had come her with her partner and Penelo, yet she did not see either of them. Fran knew her companion better than he knew himself, and she knew there would be not a single chance he would abandon anyone in battle, nor did it seem that Penelo would either.

More confusing, though she could not see them, their scents were heavy in the chamber. The aroma of the desert sands and flowers, Penelo. The fragrance of expensive cologne and leather. Strong, as if they were standing right across the way, but overpowered by the stench of blood. Another arrow flew through the air.

Scanning across the room, blocking out the sound of broken bones and putrid guts from her tall, sensitive ears, something caught her eyes that made her stomach sink and her heart jump into her throat. Six or seven ghast were huddled close onto the ground, low enough that any person fighting would not notice them. Grabbing a handful of arrows, she fired a steady stream of arrows as she ran, each time a perfect head , she shot one of the arrows into the small group, killing one quickly. The others looked up dumbly, mouths hanging wide as the tendons bone that kept them close had long since been dissolved. She was about to shoot another when something caught her eyes, something that confirmed her fear.

A small, severed finger was stuck between the few rotten teeth still left in the ghast's mouth. A severed finger with a ring of green and pink around it.

She felt the mist gather in her hands, crackling electricty dancing from her fingertips. Releasing her spell through the air, Thundaga hit it's mark, sending crippling shockwaves through their bodies, blackening them before they fell into ash. Running as fast as she could, she ran over to the form that had been just a moment prior swarmed by the undead. A form that had formally been Balthier.

The Viera felt a wave of horrible nausea looking down at her fallen comrade. His chest had been ripped open, half eaten innards spilling out onto the rock and most of his flesh had been ripped from the bone. For a moment, she was absolutely positive that it had been the endless ghasts that had killed him, until her eyes moved to the large split in his skull. No fiend could do that, for it was obviously inflicted by an-

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Vaan tried desperately to fight back the ghasts that continued to spawn every few moments. Every time he attempted to attack Neglumuur, the force that rose the dead from the ground, another zombie would jump in his path. He flung a spell from his hand, shards of ice slicing through the soft tissue. Now with an empty path, Vaan attempted his final strike upon the reaper. He felt the hammer hit his target, that quick moment, before the feeling changed into as if he had hit a bowl of gelatin. Hammer slamming down, shattering the rock, Neglumuur had teleported to the other side of the room.

"Shit!" Vaan swore loudly. He had been so close. Taking a deep breath, the young teen started to run, smashing in heads as he headed to where the reaper hovered. The blond halted in his tracks when he spotted Ashe, trying to take on four of the ghasts at once, one of them behind her with its skeletal hand in her hair. Vaan changed course, worried for Ashe. She had not once, since they had joined the fight, tried to heal herself, or even pay attention to anything around her for that matter. It wasn't like her.

Regretting it the moment he did, Vaan ripped the ghast's hand away from Ashe, the bone snapping in half like a twig in his grip. Giving somewhat of a girlish yelp, he flung the appendage on the ground before placing it back on his weapon. The undead lunged forward, teeth bare, but was quickly defeated with the end of the hammer plunging into it's fragile face.

"Ashe, you alright? You gotta pay-" Vaan started to say, turning back to the princess as she ran her axe through the last of the undead facing her, some of the vanishing debris flew into his mouth, making him gag. Before he had a chance to get his voice back, the young princess forced her head back towards Vaan, teeth clamped tight together and eyes shooting out piercing hatred. Basch had looked over from his prey to see the young boy collapse to the ground, his highness's Francisca buried deep in the boy's side. The edge grinding against the floor as she dragged it upward, small sparks flying from the friction, the orphan boy had only a split second to grasp what was happening before he crumpled to the ground, hot red liquid spilling out from his mouth and abdomen.

Stomping down of his chest, she grabbed the handle of her weapon and pulled, releasing the blade from his flesh with a sinking squelch, pools of blood forming around him as it spilled onto the floor. Vaan tried to scream from it being ripped from his body, but the blood filling his mouth prevented him from making any noise beside that of gurgling. Fingers twitching as broken mist tried to form, a desperate attempt of cure fading.

Lifting the axe above her head, face filled with pure rage, she let out a scream as she plunged it downward into the barely conscious boy, a spew of blood squirting from his mouth as he attempted to vocalize. Eyes rolled back into his head as he drowned on his own blood. Not noticing her companion had already passed, Ashe brought Francisca down again, burying it in his chest, then again, and again and again.

As she was about to strike his corpse for the sixth time, an arrow pierced through her hand, her axe crashing onto the stone and causing her to howl in pain. Hateful, deranged eyes madly swept across the room until they set sight on Fran, holding her bow poised for another strike.

"Basch! Now!" Fran yelled to her only ally, quickly shooting the undead that reached for Vaan's unmoving body. Basch, following Fran's orders, ran behind the princess and grabbed her from behind, holding her arms tight so she could no longer reach her weapon. The young woman, blinded by her rage, began to kick and scream and scratch, attempt to break free from her knight's grasp.

"We must leave at once!" Basch called back to Fran, casting a fire spell instead of his sword to prevent her from squirming free. Princess in tow, the two tried to make their way across the chamber, avoiding hungry teeth and claws. Doing her best to keep her companions safe she shot down as many as she could. But with all of the rotting flesh and tainted mist, her senses were becoming overpowered. The whole room smelt of blood and decay, so much she could not smell the stench of the Neglumuur which had materialized behind her until a moment too late. As soon as she realized the reaper was behind her, she jumped back as far as she could to avoid its reach, but not fast enough to get out of the range of the black and red mist spilling out from under it. The cold mist slithered across the tiles to her legs, causing her to shudder the cold spread over her body. There was a painful squeeze inside of her chest, like icy claws had taken her heart in its hand. She instantly knew the spell. Doom. She knew the three of them had to escape soon, or else she would join the others.

She tried to shoot the otherworldly creature between the eyes, but again it dissolved and teleported too a new position in the room, her arrow bouncing off the rock wall. No longer caring, she ran to Basch's side and cast a healing spell to get rid of the deep gashes Ashe's nails had caused. Basch and Fran ran as fast as they could, the Viera casting spells to prevent them from being followed. She created a barrier of hot flames with a firaga spell, but the horde shambled through the fire, immune to pain, to heat, their skin blackened and catching fire but still moving by dark arts.

The three had not far to go, for the hall where the blue crystal was in sight. If they could only touch it, they could escape with their lives intact. Fran, being the fastest of the two, hurried as fast as her long legs could take her, about to climb the stairs out of the chamber when a large axe came plummeting down in front of her, shattering the stone steps mere inches from her. Another Blood Gigas had materialized to protect the hidden treasures of the shrine and to block their path. Fran was quick to shut her ruby eyes and let her ears take control.

"Avert your gaze. To look into its eye is to be consumed by madness, as the princess was," Fran called back to Basch, who was tackling the enemies from behind. Looking down at the screeching woman, he finally grasped what had happened to her. He knew he could not fight blind, and left the headless giant to her.

She could hear the sound of the blade cutting through the air, coming from below. Skillfully she moved out of the way to the right, keeping her eyes shut. The heavy sounds of footsteps turning to face her. She knew it was staring back at her, and she took the opportunity. She swiftly spun the arrow into the bow, drawing the string and releasing it in a matter of a few seconds. The sound of horrid groaning and howling told her she had hit her mark, right in its eye. With its main weapon out of the way, she opened her eyes, letting her bow glow a bright white and change shape, transforming into a long blade, Murasame. As the giant pawed at its bleeding eye, she took the chance to slash at it, cutting it deep across the muscled chest. It would not take long for it to fall. Poised for another strike, the Viera suddenly stopped, her eyes growing wide.

0

Fran collapsed onto the ground as her heart had failed to continue beating, Doom claiming her. Basch had turned in time to see her fall, loosening his grip on the princess as he tried in vain to reach out to her. The Lady Ashe, now able to move more than a moment prior, elbowed her knight in the stomach while he was distracted by Fran's passing. Spinning around, she stole his Icebrand from its sheath on his hip, so close he could not dodge her, she plunged the ice cold steel through his gut before he could recover from the first attack. Ripping it out from inside him, she kicked the dizzied blond down onto the stone. The rapid losing of blood left him disoriented unable to pick himself from the ground. With a crazed grin, the princess thrust the blade down again, slicing past his chest and piercing his heart. The knight's body gave a violent twitch before it fell still. She pulled Icebrand back from his body, his blood dripping onto the floor from the metal.

She turned back to the sound of the groaning horde of undead, the fire that somewhat held them at bay dying until it was no more than scorched stone. Tightening her grip on the hilt and breathing heavy, the berserk heir changed forward, tired legs carrying her into the enemies. Decapitating and running through, slicing through the spine, one fell after another, but with each one, two more rose by the Neglumuur's necromancy. The princess could not see anything but red and the shambling corpses. Forcing her body to attack when it to the point beyond exhaustion, she impaled another corpse. Before she could pull out, it grabbed at her with bony fingers. Pulling down on her collar, it sank its few rotten teeth into her soft neck. Screaming in pain and caught off guard, another zombie, ripped in half at the waist and putrid innards trailing behind across the floor, bite down on her ankle, causing her to fall down in pain.

The corpses clawed at her kicking but still vulnerable self, gnashing teeth breaking and tearing her flesh as she struggled to get away. Her feet caught in the grasps of the ghasts, she could not crawl away as her stomach was ripped open by the fiends, decaying hands plunging into her innards, causing her eyes to roll back into her head. Shredding organs with sharp bones and teeth, the ghasts began to devour the hot meat as her body violently seized. Finally, the pain was too intense to withstand any longer, her vision burning painful white, then endless black. Her body no longer moved.

**GAME OVER**

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A/N: I had planned Vaan's death from back when I did Blood Gigas, but I didn't include it because I only wanted three party members at a time. I had a sick enjoyment with killing him off. Ashe was also planned before, but with Basch and Fran, I was extremely lost on how to carry it out until I came up with what I have.

Please, if you could leave a review with your opinion and thoughts, pleased do. I'm really unsure if this is good or bad and your comments would mean a lot to me!

Until next time, thank you all.


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